Mexico creates special unit to handle Ayotzinapa case

57 months have passed since 43 male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College were forcibly taken and then disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero, an event that sparked outrage in Mexico and led many to believe that the Federal Government had been involved in the students’ disappearance.

On Wednesday, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) issued a decree to create the Special Unit for the Investigation and Litigation of the Ayotzinapa Case, which will aim to investigate, prosecute crimes, and conclude criminal proceedings linked to the events occurred in 2014. “For this purpose, we will provide all investigation and litigation teams necessary for its proper functioning,” the decree states.

This new investigation unit will be attached to the Attorney General’s Office, led by Alejandro Gertz Manero, who has now appointed Omar Gómez Trejo to lead the special unit.

Gómez Trejo, who has a master’s degree in Human Rights and Democracy, as well as a broad experience working with international organizations in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala, will act as an agent of the Federal Public Ministry as part of his new position.

He will also work in cooperation with the Commission for Truth and Access to Justice, as well as the Executive Commission for Victims Assistance (CEAV), and the National Commission for the Search of Missing Persons.

Relatives and friends of the missing students took to the streets on Wednesday in Mexico City to demand that authorities present the students alive.